Shelley's Story

This letter came from Shelley Pereda Camp. She gave permission to republish it here:

I am the mother of a 12 year old autistic child in Asheville. She was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at the age of 1-1/2 and then diagnosed with autism with MMR tendancies at the age of 4 1/2. At 4-1/2, my almost catatonic, she only spoke 25 words, was still in diapers and was a danger to herself and those around her. You would never know this about her if you met her today but this would not have been possible without community support services, OT, PT, Speech and Medicaid.

Cuts to services these services may look like an easy way out but they will in fact create a generation of adults with autism that are dependent on a welfare state to provide for all their needs or worse, a generation of children who have to be abandoned by their parents so they can provide food and shelter for the rest of the family.

Without practical skills like the ability to communicate clearly or the manual dexterity to pull up a zipper these “well meaning” politicians will be sentencing developmentally disabled individuals AND their families to a lifetime of poverty, ignorance and dependence on others.

All of the therapies they intend to cut are not covered by medical insurance, because they are not considered necessary by most insurance companies for rehabilitation. The cost for these therapies run anywhere from $90 - $200 per hour and have been required at least 2 -3 per week since my daughter was diagnosed at 1 1/2. These therapies have greatly improved her ability to walk, climb stairs, talk and to develop the finger/hand strength that is necessary to write her name. Without state assistance I would have NEVER been able to afford the $1800 per week in medical bills that to pay for these services myself.

Furthermore, I would have had to quit my job of $60K per year to collect welfare and food stamps, to stay home with my daughter so that I could provide her with the one-on-one supervision and support that is needed to teach her appropriate social, behavior, self-help and personal hygiene skills.

It doesn’t really take a genius to quickly do the math and figure out that paying for these services will cost the tax payer and state far less than providing welfare, SSI & food stamps to an entire family. Multiply this staggering number by the 1 million + individuals in the US that have autism and it makes our current national debt look like a kiddie pool next to a tsunami.

I have 12 years of documented PROOF that the services the NC house is proposing to cut do in fact help the developmentally disabled have a chance at living an independent life as adults.

The politicians who are supporting cuts to Medicaid, community support services, OT, PT & Speech therapies for the developmentally disabled are doing this simply because the developmentally disabled do not vote. These children and adults have families, siblings, grandparents, friends, churches and neighbors who do vote and will not support anyone in political office that that would take advantage of the most vulnerable that live among us.

There has to be a better way. Increase taxes, take a pay cut, stop all spending on beautifying roads and curbs to make them more appealing to tourists but do whatever you need to find another way to meet your budget shortfalls.

- Say NO to Freezing CAP MR/DD slots and forcing those on the Cap MR/DD waiting list to wait two more years before new slots are available

- Say NO to eliminating funding for community support services

- Say NO to eliminating state-funded wrap around services that keep people in their home and communities

- Say NO to eliminating Physical therapy, Occupational therapy and Speech therapy from the Medicaid budget

- Vote NO on the proposed HHS budget.

All of these therapies are essential to the giving the developmentally disabled a chance at living independently within our community. These proposed cuts will eliminate thousands of jobs and drive our state economy from a recession to a depression. These proposed cuts will create human suffering on a scale we have never seen before and will create a greater economic crisis for North Carolina when families are forced to quit their jobs to care for their developmentally disabled loved one, to institutionalize their developmentally disabled children so they can provide basic needs for the rest of their family and when these children grow up to be adults who are dependent on a welfare state to provide for their needs.

Shelley Pereda Camp

Please contact your representative, the House Leader and the Governor:

Joe Hackney - 919-733-3451 - Joe.Hackney@ncleg.net
Bev Perdue - 919-733-4240 - no email, but here’s an online contact form